JP7092493B2 - How to assist the crane operation with a crane and the crane - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method of assisting crane operation by a crane having at least two boom elements that are relatively mobile.

Cranes with a boom system have been conventionally known. When installing this type of crane, the boom elements of the boom system transition from one mounting state to a complete mounting state. This allows the mounting condition to be, for example, a condition in which the boom system is substantially extended over the surface of the extended support or base. The crane cannot perform any crane work in this state. The crane can start the crane operation after the boom system is fully assembled.

Assembling the boom system means performing complex continuous movements. And, in particular, the operating passages where the crane can move safely are very narrow. In some cases, even the slightest deviation can lead to tilting and damage to the crane structure. To this end, in particular, assembling a crane requires the personnel of an experienced operator and the consumption of a long time, depending on the performance of the required crane operation.

This challenge does not only arise when assembling or installing a crane. Additional crane movements that can lead to similar difficulties are also possible. Therefore, even in such a case, it is desirable to solve the crane personnel assistance.

An object of the present invention is to provide a crane assist system capable of allowing the initiation of a particular crane attitude, preferably in exceptional circumstances.

This problem is solved by the method represented by the feature of claim 1. An advantageous embodiment of this method is described in the dependent claims of the primary claim.

The method according to the present invention is proposed for performing crane operation assistance by a crane. That is, the crane comprises at least two boom elements that are relatively mobile, for example in the form of a main boom and a roughing jib. The main boom may be a ruffing crane tower with an elongated boom that is articulated. In the case of a relatively movable boom element, a derrick boom may be included as well as a main boom and a roughing jib, if necessary. Therefore, in this regard, the target posture may be not only the load-side target posture of the crane but also the ballast-side target posture.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the auxiliary control module can be utilized as determining at least one target attitude of the boom system after activation by the user. The crane motion required to reach the target attitude is determined depending on the target attitude, and after release by the user, is a particular crane actuator indirectly operated to perform the crane operation by the auxiliary control module? Or it is operated directly by the crane controller.

The auxiliary control module can be a component of a conventional crane controller. Alternatively, the auxiliary control module can be designed as an external module, which can be connected to the crane controller. The auxiliary control module does not necessarily have to be fixed to the crane and may be operated in the form of a remote controller separate from the crane, for example as a separate component, in which case appropriate communication with the crane controller. Requires an interface.

It is important for the present invention that the desired target posture is determined in advance by the auxiliary control module. The auxiliary control module determines the crane movement required to achieve the target attitude depending on it. In particular, the auxiliary control module can divide the required crane movement into the corresponding control commands for a particular crane actuator so that it can properly activate the crane actuator. After determining the required crane movement, the active release can be re-instructed by the crane operator. For example, this release can be done by contact and / or optical sensors. The crane operator must therefore first evaluate the current operating conditions by active transfer from the controller to the auxiliary control module and finally instruct active release to the semi-autonomous controller. It doesn't become.

During the crane operation execution, the crane operation performed by the crane controller may be monitored at the same time. If the crane is in a normal working area, normal load torque limits may apply. Here, the current attitude or current conditions of the crane, in particular the boom system, are determined by conventional crane sensors, respectively, and compliance with the corresponding allowable load table is monitored. This can be applied to crane operation with and without load.

It is advantageous for the crane sensor to be equipped with one or more angle sensors for detecting the angle position of each boom element. One or more load measuring devices and / or distance sensors and / or limit switches or any other optical detection system are equally advantageous. When using angle sensors, monitor based on the angle of the crane as much as possible. In this case, values measured, for example, with the angle sensor described above, or with other sensors, may be directly matched to the corresponding boundary values for monitoring and compliance. No tedious conversion to maximum working radius is required for monitoring the load capacity table. The angle-based method has the effect that the load moment device (LMD) is not operating in these situations, so that the boom installation can be monitored in the controller even at negative angles.

The term "monitoring" means not only monitoring the autonomous crane movements performed, but also monitoring the actual active adjustment of the crane actuators. In determining the crane operation, the auxiliary control module should preferably consider any monitoring method or boundary value or allowable load table in order to avoid difficulties in advance when starting the operation.

The determination of the target posture can be made in various ways. The simplest method is by direct input of the desired target posture by the user. As an example, a crane operator can enter an auxiliary control module by setting the boom's theoretical turning angle and / or theoretical working radius or by entering geographic coordinate input values (especially by setting longitude and latitude). The required target posture can be indirectly input.

Alternatively, the target posture may be input by selecting a predetermined target posture by the crane operator. This allows, for example, a crane operator to refer to possible target postures for a databank provided integrally with the crane. The predetermined target posture can depend on the previous history. That is, the crane attitude, such as the crane attitude for load support or load release, is manually or automatically set periodically in the databank.

Further, the crane operator may simply select a specific crane function instead of inputting the target attitude. In that case, the auxiliary control module automatically determines a specific target posture. Autonomous start of stop posture depending on the crane situation may be one possible supported crane function. Autonomous crane installation or disassembly, which depends on the installation surface, can be an additional crane function. Autonomous activation of a particular mounting posture, preferably by assembling or removing the hook block to the boom system, is similarly conceivable.

After selecting the corresponding crane function, the auxiliary control module independently determines at least one target attitude that is optimal for performing the crane function. It can be started independently after the subsequent release by the user.

When the function for autonomous launch of the stopped attitude is selected, the auxiliary control module can first download the current and / or future weather data, based on which the optimum stopping attitude of the crane can be determined. can. It is conceivable to download this meteorological data by a sensor integrally provided with the crane, or by an internal or external data bank, respectively. For example, the auxiliary control module can download weather data from any desired external information server via a communication interface. The determination of the optimal target attitude can be calculated by meteorological data or by downloading from a databank available through comparison with meteorological data. The optimum parking posture will change depending on the wind direction, wind load, etc. and must be newly determined according to the latest situation. Ideally, meteorological data is checked for changes during the crane's stationary attitude. Depending on the extreme weather conditions, for example, it may be necessary to change the parking posture or disassemble the boom system.

When the autonomous assembly or disassembly function of the boom system is selected, parameters and / or information queries may be performed first by the auxiliary control module. Calculations of the sequence of assembly or disassembly processes can then be performed on the basis of downloaded parameters or information. Possible parameters may include information for the boom configuration being prepared. The availability of any auxiliary means (eg, a trolley cart to support the tip of the boom) in the assembly process is additionally queried. For example, this can be determined automatically by a camera on the crane.

Information on the allowable load of the supporting ground can be considered as well.

One or more of the parameters mentioned above can be included in the calculation of the motion sequence. Thereby, one or more target attitudes are determined for the motion sequence that must be performed for the crane operating state to be established. The angular position and specific angular changes, which are the activation sequences of the main boom and jibboom, must be determined individually.

In addition, prior to performing an autonomous assembly or disassembly process, allow the user to direct specifications or choices regarding processes that are taken into account in determining one or more target attitudes of the auxiliary control module. You may. The user can activate the corresponding selection of, for example, the amount of ballast used and / or the timing of erecting the roughing jib from the support surface with the expansion boom.

To achieve any of the selected target attitudes, the determination of crane operation by the auxiliary control module can be essentially optimized for any conceivable user specification. This can be taken into account in the performance of the crane function described above and, in some cases, in correspondence with the direct input of the corresponding target attitude. Some possible specifications relate to the distance of the crane operation and / or the load of the crane structure that occurs during the crane operation and / or the ballast-reduced operation and / or the minimum of the acceleration process being performed, eg. It may be possible to optimize the determined crane operation.

It is desirable that the crane operation required to achieve the target attitude is divided into a control command for the crane turning mechanism and a control command for the undulating operation drive unit of the boom system. Therefore, the auxiliary control module allows simultaneous or temporal activation of several actuators to achieve the target attitude. In addition to the drives described above, control can be extended to other drives as needed.

In addition to the methods of the invention described above, the invention relates to an auxiliary control module for a crane, which also has means for performing the method according to the invention. As described above, the same auxiliary control module as described above by the method according to the present invention can obtain the same effects and features. Therefore, the same description will be omitted.

Finally, the present invention relates to a crane having a crane controller and at least one auxiliary control module according to the present invention, particularly a mobile crane.

The additional effects and properties of the present invention will be described in more detail below by the embodiments shown in the figures.

It is a figure which shows the embodiment of the method which concerns on the crane operation by a crane. It is a figure which shows the embodiment of the method which concerns on the crane operation by the crane which has an additional derrick boom.

An embodiment of the method according to the present invention, which assists the crane operation by a crane, will be described below with reference to FIG. The crane of this embodiment includes, for example, a roughing jib, an elongated boom, and a main ruffing boom and a roughing expansion boom that cooperate with others. The method according to the invention is primarily useful for the automatic assembly of cranes, i.e., the automatic assembly of boom systems, but may also be applied for other crane operations.

The starting point is a sensor on a crane of the type already available, especially an angle sensor, which can accurately determine the individual attitude of the boom element. For example, the angle of the pin (ie the angle of the roughing jib with respect to the horizontal) determines the middle angle (ie the angle between both boom elements) exactly as well as the angle of the main boom (ie the angle of the main boom with respect to the horizontal). can do. This accurate detection of the actual boom attitude allows the crane operator to assemble or disassemble the boom system, with or without load, not only within the permissible load table but also outside the permissible load table. It is possible to switch to semi-autonomous operation of crane operation. The crane is then optimally varied to the desired target attitude according to the particular scale. Crane operators, in particular, perform crane movements at the highest possible speeds so that autonomous crane movements are performed as gently as possible against the crane structure and that the crane movements are performed with as little ballast as possible. As such, specifications can be created to minimize the required assembly time, or to start as few crane elements as possible to shorten the process.

References are made primarily to auxiliary control modules for the execution of the method according to the invention for autonomous assembly. The auxiliary control module may be a component of an existing crane controller, may be mounted on the crane as an external element, or may be an external element connected by an interface. After the operator activates the auxiliary control module, the calculation parameters of the sequence of the assembly or disassembly process are queried. In addition, if necessary, parameters can be used to create information about the boom configuration, such as whether the tip of the boom is movably supported by the trolley cart or how high the allowable load of the supporting ground is. can. The presence of the trolley cart can be automatically recognized by the camera on the crane.

The auxiliary control module uses the available information to determine the possible first target attitude from the additional target attitude, so that the crane can initiate its actual crane operation as needed. Determine additional target postures to achieve the target postures. One embodiment of the different target postures can be inferred from the figures in steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 for achieving the LMD region of the allowable load table. During step 1, the boom system is almost extended and located in the base position, and the boom system is located almost completely on the ground. For this reason, the roughing jib is supported by the trolley cart.

There are three different steps for performing step 2, which depend on the crane installation surface. According to Case 1, an intermediate length roughing jib is placed so that the main boom can be erected far enough to reach the minimum intermediate angle between the main boom and the roughing jib. In Case 2, a short roughing jib is prepared so that the main boom is fully upright so that the roughing jib has the smallest pin angle (negative angle) with respect to the horizontal. In case 3, especially for long roughing jib, the main boom is first assembled at the maximum angle of the main boom.

Here, in cases 1 and 2, the next target posture is composed of a main boom that is only erected at the position of the maximum angle of the main boom, whereby the roughing jib is erected from the ground. For the achievement of step 4, the roughing jib is correspondingly adjusted to be in an almost horizontal position. Therefore, the angle of the main boom remains unchanged.

However, the implementation of the method is also possible with another crane mounting surface as shown in FIG. The crane here includes a main boom and a short roughing jib connected in a ruffing fashion similar to case 1 in FIG. A derrick boom with a corresponding derrick ballast is provided on the sill. For method implementation, in addition to the relative postures of the main boom and roughing jib, the current postures of the derrick boom and / or derrick ballast must be considered as well. The different target postures of steps 1 to 4 basically correspond to each of steps 1 to 4 in case 1 of FIG.

The individually required crane movements for performing the methods shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are ruffing jib mounted by an auxiliary control module and, in particular, to any particular assembly configuration, ie any derrick boom, including derrick ballast. , The use of auxiliary carts for roughing jib, or depending on the policy for the assembly process specified by the user. The determination of individual target attitudes is determined within the auxiliary control module by crane configuration and user-specific detection. Here, the target posture can be calculated from the following parameters, or can be read out in comparison with the data stored in the memory of the data bank. With the active release of the switch elements by the auxiliary control module, the actions required for the new attitude are with respect to the swivel mechanism and the drive unit for undulating the main boom and tip boom or for activating the derrick boom, respectively. It is divided into control commands issued. Crane-side monitoring is the status of sensors present in the crane, which may consist of available data present in the crane, allowable load tables or their mounting areas, and angle sensors, load measuring devices, distance sensors, limit switches and optical systems. It is done within the range. The crane operator must evaluate the current operating conditions and provide semi-autonomous control release by active transfer of control to the auxiliary control module. This release can be done by a tactile sensor and an additional optical sensor.

Posture identification for monitoring occurs by direct measurement of a particular angle. During boom system assembly, corresponding boundary values for measurement angles are present in the crane controller and crane operation, angle-based monitoring can be monitored by direct comparison of measurements, or intervention can be performed by control. Is particularly preferable.

Particularly in automated assembly, the method according to the invention provides great advantages. In automatic assembly, during the main mast erecting process, the values at the edges of the load table are usually reached, which are generally unstable and have "fringes", the points of which are loads and interpolation. Explained by the iterative judgment of the method. When the load approaches the value at the edge of the table due to the crane operation, the switch is turned off. As a result, it is often very difficult for a crane operator to make the right decision for the next crane operation. However, the auxiliary control module can automatically lead to a corrective action to solve this problem. This results in an intermediate angle correction, eg, an angle correction between the main boom and the roughing jib, during the assembly process. As a result, the boom system can complete the process as safely as possible at values farther from the values at the edge of the allowable load table.

With the auxiliary control module of the present invention, the semi-autonomous activation of the boom position for the parking position of the crane cab is more than specified for that purpose, eg in a particular allowable load table, in addition to automatic assembly. It is also possible to enter hibernation mode to move the crane to a good attitude for the fastest possible wind speeds.

In this way, the sensors provided on the crane and their measured values are used to determine the optimum attitude. The determination of the optimal posture is made by data calculated in advance or during execution. In addition, current weather data in that attitude, or data for determining about the expected weather, or the required decomposition of the boom system, may be obtained by query. After the operator activates the auxiliary control module, an inquiry is made about the expected wind speed if the crane should maintain its parking position. The possible target poses are determined by a query by the auxiliary control module. The determination of the target attitude can be made by calculations on the crane, otherwise by data stored in the data bank on the crane. If neither target posture is possible, the boom may need to be disassembled.

Further, after the active release by the switch element performed by the auxiliary control module, a control command for the turning mechanism and a control command for the boom undulating drive unit are issued in order to achieve a new attitude. Here, crane-side monitoring or drive adjustment may be performed by an angle-based method.

As a third variant, with and without load, the semi-autonomous initial boom posture can be performed by the auxiliary system within the permissible load table. By selecting different modes, the auxiliary control module can adjust and adapt different behaviors. Therefore, an additional operation is given to reduce the operation time and the load on the structure. Posture data may be used for load support or load removal. After the operator activates the auxiliary control module, the target attitude is inquired. Posture information can be provided through turning angles and / or working radii and / or by user input of geographic coordinates consisting of longitude and latitude.

After active release by the switch element, the actions required for the new attitude are divided by the control unit into control commands for the swivel mechanism and control commands for the boom undulating drive unit.

Claims (14)

In how to assist the operation of the crane boom system of cranes, including the relatively mobile main boom, roughing jib and derrick boom .
Autonomous activation of the stop posture depending on the situation of the crane, autonomous installation or disassembly of the crane boom system depending on the installation surface, or autonomous activation of the assembly posture for assembling or removing the hook block. When the user preselects a particular crane function, the auxiliary control module determines at least one target attitude of the crane boom system .
Determine the crane operation required to achieve the target attitude of the above crane boom system ,
After user confirmation, it is characterized by activating a specific crane actuator to move the main boom, roughing jib and derrick boom to perform the crane operation determined indirectly or directly by the crane controller. how to. In the method according to claim 1,
Monitoring and / or adjustment of the above crane movements performed has been performed.
In particular, the current attitude of the crane or the conditions of the crane are determined by one or more angle sensors and / or load measuring devices and / or distance sensors and / or limit switches and / or optical systems, respectively.
A method comprising an inspection of compliance with boundary values and / or permissible load tables and / or permissible mounting areas of measured values. In the method according to claim 1 or 2.
The determination of the target posture is determined by the user directly inputting the target posture, for example, by presenting a theoretical turning angle and / or a theoretical working radius, and / or by a geographical input value of coordinates, especially by longitude and latitude. A method characterized by being done by. In the method according to claim 3,
Input of the target posture is performed by selecting a predetermined target posture.
The method characterized by the predetermined target posture being a crane posture manually initiated prior to it, particularly a starting posture for load removal and / or load bearing. In the method according to claim 1 ,
When the user selects the autonomous activation function in the stopped posture,
The auxiliary control module determines current and / or future meteorological data and
In particular, inquire about the expected wind speed and / or wind direction, and preferably calculate the target attitude based on the optimum stop attitude.
And / or a method characterized by determining meteorological data by querying internal or external data banks. In the method according to claim 5 ,
A method characterized in that the meteorological data is determined by a crane sensor or downloaded from an external information server. In the method according to claim 5 or 6 ,
The above meteorological data was examined for changes in the stopped posture.
A method characterized in that a new target or stop posture is determined and activated, if necessary. In the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .
When the user selects the autonomous assembly or disassembly function,
Queries of parameters and / or information are made to calculate the sequence of assembly or disassembly processes.
In particular, the parameters for the current boom configuration and / or the use of any possible auxiliary means, such as a trolley cart for supporting the tip of the boom, are recorded.
And / or a method characterized in that information regarding the allowable load of the supporting ground is determined. In the method according to claim 8 ,
Based on the inquiry of the parameters and / or information, at least one possible target attitude for assembling or disassembling the crane boom system is determined respectively.
Preferably, the method is characterized in that a first target posture is determined first, and as a result, a further target posture for achieving the final target posture is determined. In the method according to claim 8 or 9 .
Additional user specifications for performing the assembly or disassembly process include one or more target postures, particularly the amount of ballast used and / or the timing of lifting the roughing jib from the support surface and / or the target postures for assembling the derrick boom . A method characterized by being considered for decision making. In the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
The crane operation determination is optimized to achieve the target attitude depending on the user specifications.
In particular, the specifications are optimized for the length of the crane operation and / or the minimization of the load and / or ballast-reduced operation and / or accelerated process on the crane structure that occurs during the crane operation. A method characterized by being able to relate to. In the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
A method characterized in that the crane operation for achieving the target posture can be divided into control commands for each of the crane turning mechanism and the undulating operation drive unit of the crane boom system. An auxiliary control module for a crane comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. A crane, particularly a mobile crane, comprising a crane controller device for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 and at least one auxiliary control module.

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